1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for harvesting nuts from trees, and particularly a unitary, self-propelled nut harvester that will efficiently remove and collect nuts from a tree, separate trash from the collected nuts, divide the collected nuts according to size, and bag the sized nuts.
2. Summary of the Prior Art
Apparatuses for the removal and collection of ripened nuts from trees have been the subject of many inventive efforts. Early on, it was realized that if the nut-bearing tree could be mechanically shaken by vibrational forces applied to its trunk, the ripened nuts, with or without their hulls, could be dislodged and fall. Such vibrational devices were soon mounted on self-propelled vehicles which could be successively driven up to each nut-bearing tree.
Next cam the development of catching apparatuses for the falling nuts. One form of such apparatus comprised an inverted cone-shaped sheet of canvas or any similar wear-resistant, flexible sheet material mounted on an articulated frame structure which would support the canvas in an inverted semi-conical configuration as the machine approached the tree trunk and then the frame structure would be arcuately expanded so that the bottom of the inverted canvas cone was positioned around the trunk of the tree while the upper, large-diameter portion of the inverted canvas cone was spread out to underlie substantially all of the nut-carrying branches of the tree. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,105,346, 3,105,347, 3,338,041, and 3,440,809.
When the tree trunk is mechanically vibrated in a horizontal plane, the dislodged nuts fall onto the inverted canvas cone and are directed by gravity to the lower end of the cone where they fall onto a conveyor which carries the collected nuts, hulls, and other trash dislodged from the tree by the shaking action to a collection bin mounted on the chassis. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,105,346 and 3,105,347.
Other prior art used the inverted canopy to catch and hold the nuts, hulls and trash that fell from the tree until they could be deposited into a truck for offsite sorting and bagging. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,440,809 and 3,338,041.
A common problem of the aforementioned prior art disclosures is that the volume of hulls and trash far exceeds the volume of the nuts collected and rapidly fills the collection bin or the canopy of the nut-harvesting machine. This requires frequent trips to a truck to haul the collected materials to a nut-processing plant where the nuts are dehulled and the hulls and other trash are removed and disposed of. Additionally, sizing and bagging operations have to be performed before the nuts can be marketed.
Another problem is the accurate positioning and maneuverability of the chassis carrying the canopy and shaking apparatus. Such canopies are of substantial width and height even when folded. In most instances, two persons are needed to accurately position and secure the canopy around the tree.
Obviously, there is a need for a self-propelled nut-harvester that can be conveniently operated by one man to collect nuts, hulls and accompanying trash dislodged from the tree, separate the hulls and trash from the nuts, size the trash-free nuts, and bag the sized nuts in the orchard, while returning the empty hulls and trash to the ground as a desirable mulch.